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Showing the maturity
that earned him a Western Australian Speedcar crown only a couple of
years ago, Muir Motorsports driver Todd Waddell ran away from the rest
of the AHG Sprintcar field in Saturday night’s twenty five lap final at
the Perth Motorplex to record his first ever Sprintcar A-Main win.
Although experienced in other disciplines of dirt track racing, this is
the youngster’s rookie year in the thunder and lightning Sprintcar
brigade and to be able to claim a win in this highly competitive series
is truly a remarkable effort by him and the entire team behind him at
Muir Motorsports.
After a respectable time trial that would have seen the Mundijong based
racer starting from the second row in his heats, good fortune struck
when the competitor who was supposed to start in front of him retired
for the evening giving him two front row starts for his qualifying
heats. You don’t give this talented driver any chances, as he grabbed
the opportunity with both hands and finished with two second place
finishes, allowing him a coveted pole position start in the all
important finale.
“The crew did a great job setting the car up for the heats. The car
‘Just did its thing’ and it was fast in both our two heats on the
night.”
As the green flag dropped there was no stopping this hard charger, who
jumped to the lead from the start. He used the track to perfection,
running in places the majority of the field couldn’t. A number of
stoppages and lapped traffic proved no hindrance, and all the rest of
the field could do was watch as the tail tank of the #60 DiCandilo Steel
City/TLC Haulage Triple X as he drove away from them each and every
time.
In the end he delivered what many pundits believed might have been too
big a hurdle for the rookie, but he handled the pressure with aplomb,
and comfortably crossed the line ahead of the rest of the field.
To say that Waddell was ecstatic was an understatement as he walked
around the pits afterwards with a grin that would have put the Cheshire
Cat to shame. It’s taken a lot of hard work behind the scenes to get
their package right, but as Waddell explained its all been worth it.
“Our Genesis shocks are working to perfection now, it’s taken us a few
meetings to get a handle on them and no its starting to show dividends
allowing me to run around the top part of the track. The team told me no
one else was running up there, but we got up there and the car was on
rails. I ran through the traffic pretty good, and having the top section
of the race track to myself made my job easy.
It’s been a long journey to get to this point in his career starting all
those years ago in the junior sedan division where he claimed three
Australian crowns. After dabbling in Top Doorslammer drag cars last year
it was asked at the podium presentation what was better, the rush of a
3000 horsepower/six-second drag car or a Sprintcar A-Main win? “A
Sprintcar A main win is definitely the one. We have been working at
getting to this for over ten years as Sprintcars is where we always
wanted to end up. I never thought we would win a “A” main in our first
year of competition and it’s so good to have done it here at the Perth
Motorplex.”
It’s a dream come true but the occasion wasn’t lost on Waddell who
understands that this could not have happened without the people behind
him. “This is not just about me, it takes a team effort to win races. I
have to say a big thanks to all our sponsors, the crew – Shane Stent,
Broza, Sam ,Dan and of course Matt and Julie my car owners, my family’s
commitment to my racing and the fans who have supported me over the
years as well.”
The timing of this win couldn’t be better for Waddell as he readies
himself for some of the biggest shows of the year. The World Series
finals, the King of the Wings and the Krikke Boys Shootout are just some
of the meetings where he will be taking on Australia’s, and some of
America’s best talent and Waddell will be full of confidence that he has
the ability and the team to tackle them head on in the toughest form of
motorsport in the country - Sprintcar Racing.
Todd Waddell and Muir Motorsport would like to thank the following
people for their valued and ongoing support:
DiCandilo Steel City, TLC Haulage, WA Reticulation Supplies, V&D
Engineering, Little Industries, Grayvon Transport, Sino Grating
International, Autosmart Bunbury,
Genesis Shocks, Pike & Skinner, DCCM, BCM Motorsport Marketing, WA
Skills Training, Autostyle Spray Painters
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